Crowning Glory (In Bloom Book 2)

20: A Ray of Hope

I had witnessed Sebek's and Silver's duels countless times. I had learned their moves and patterns. Yet this time, their fight was unlike the rest. The urgency. The determination. The fear. It was all reflected with every clash of their blades.

Silver's efforts were minimal, yet he continued to block all of his opponent's strikes. It seemed Silver was yearning for defeat, yet his body wanted to defend himself. Sebek on the other hand changed his tactics every now and then. He was trying to catch Silver off guard. It wasn't working. Either way, the two of them were starting to get worn out.

Seeing as it was leading nowhere, I contemplated on the best way to break the two of them up. Just when I was about to make my move, I noticed something shift within Silver. I expected to see him block another of Sebek's attacks. He quickly dodged before [some sort of move].

He landed the finishing blow, robbing Sebek of his sword and his balance.

"That's the end of it..." Sebek spoke in between breaths. "...I lost..."

Silver tossed his weapon to the side, "I'm sorry, Sebek....My body just moved on its own..."

"You possess such strength and you claim you weren't loved?!" Sebek grunted as he stood back up. "You claim Master Lilia and Lord Malleus hate you?!"

"But, I-"

"No matter how many times you've been knocked to the ground, you still got back up, you still clung onto hope. You stood up to our king in his madness when no one else could. Who was it that raised you to be a strong man? WASN'T IT LILIA?!"

Silver remained standing in a daze, as if those words were such a surprise to him.

Sebek continued, "Why can't you understand?! Why must you doubt him?! That strength of yours, what is it if not your father's love for you?! Don't you dare ridicule our teacher ever again!"

When he was a child, he genuinely believed Lilia was his biological father. The General was too fearful to tell him the truth and hoped he would figure it out on his own. Silver did....but it did not cushion the shock any less. Even though they had no blood ties to each other and were from entirely different races, Silver considered himself Lilia's one and only son. And now, with his true lineage unveiled, I could see the dilemma he was faced with.

The conflict on what to believe.

Silver continued to remain in silence. I thought I would have to participate in a duel with him next when he at last spoke up,"...You're right. The whole time I was down here...I could hear my father's voice calling out to me. He kept urging me to get up, to keep fighting, to live...I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me, but now I understand. All of my father's teachings, they're testaments of his love for me. That's no dream or illusion...it's the truth, plain and simple."

"So, what will you do about it, Silver?" I asked.

"I've dreamed of becoming a knight since I was a child and protect those I love. I'm going to make my dream come true." Most importantly," Silver knelt to reclaim his sword. "I'm going to end this nightmare...and bring both their smiles back! I won't lose my way again!"

Sebek smiled in confirmation, "You best not go back on those words!"

Silver then looked to me, "Cassie, I-"

I wrapped my arms around him before I pointed a finger at him in warning, "You do that again and I'll use your spine as a broomstick."

He hugged me back and his chest shook with his laughter.

"Hey guys, hate to break up the loving and tender moment, but we have a war to deal with," Grim reminded us. "And Lilia still isn't aware this was a dream."

Though it seemed getting out of the Darkness would prove to be a much more daunting task then allowing ourselves in.

I tried to do what I could with the minimal amount of shadow magic I had grasped. The weight of the Darkness felt like I was pushing a thousand pounds of concrete with my bare hands.

There was only one thing that had made the Darkness retreat, and it was glowing underneath Silver's clothes.

The Darkness began to move, drawing itself away from us. My stomach dropped, as if the ground was moving upwards. A powerful breeze blew around us. Our heads spun. Then, a light shone through. Our feet made contact with a stone pathway and we regained our bearings. With the dizziness fading, we took in the sight of Briar Castle. We were brought back to where we once stood before the Darkness took us.

The air was deathly still. The softly pouring rain and rumbling thunder were the only things we heard. My gut twisted at the scent of burnt oil and metal. The potent essence of magic made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Our gaze shifted to the set of indentations engraved on the earth. Only metallic boots could create such a mark. And they were heading in the direction of Moonless Forest...where Lilia and Baul were.